A Pool Story and some odds and ends

It's day two of eating better and drinking less diet sodas.

So far, I haven't really missed anything and am feeling good.

I am writing a story today for my mentorship assignment, which is due at midnight Las Vegas time, about 3 am EST. As usual I have no idea in advance what the story will be about or what genre it will be.

The one requirement is that it needs to take place in a public pool that was part of last week’s assignment. So, other than the pool, I have no idea what it’s going to be about.

I practice the Writing into the Dark method of story creation also known as a 'Pantser'. The plus side is, I will be completely surprised by the ending of the story as you will be.

I spent the morning watching some episodes of Harlan Coben's 'Run Away' series. I've never really been a fan of his writing, but this series is a great study of how to make the viewer question everything. There are so many spinning plates in each episode that you must keep watching it.

Otherwise, I am slowly pulling together all the things I will need to return to work in February. This means I will be taking the train into Toronto three days a week. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am not a fan of public transportation. I am really not looking forward to standing out in the cold waiting for the train to come into the station or the cold walk once I arrive at the destination.

To that point, I order a gator from Amazon to protect my sensitive face from the icy cold winds as well as a new pair of leather gloves.

On the reading front, I have continued to read the short story collection from Chinese writers called ‘Breaking Stars’. I’ve enjoyed all the stories so far even if I can’t get some of the more cultural depth as I would if I lived in China.

The articles in ‘The Best American Science and Nature 2019’, also continues to entertain.

I ordered a copy of Dickson, Carter, “Persons or Things Unknown”, from the short story collection “Murder Under the Christmas Tree”. It was recommended in my mentor’s reading list she put out. What caught my attention was her intuitive connection to Mick Herron’s writing, the author of the Slough House Novels. She seems to think Dickson’s writing may have informed Herron’s style. Just conjecture at this point but it got me interested in reading his work.

That’s all for tonight! Back to writing a pool story.